Oscillators have been formed in a variety of architectures. Conventionally, these architectures have been implemented with transistors. For example, common implementations use transistors or an operational amplifier, which includes a plurality of transistors, in combination with other components such as resistors, capacitors and/or inductors. However, there are several disadvantages associated with using transistors to implement an oscillator.
First of all, devices used in digital circuits are becoming smaller and smaller. As these devices decrease in size, quantum mechanical effects begin to appear. The electrical properties of conventional transistors may be altered in an unacceptable way by these quantum mechanical effects. Secondly, an oscillator implemented with transistors is limited by the switching speed of the transistors, which may be too slow for some applications.